retiracyn.
/rᵻˈtʌɪərəsi/, U.S. /rəˈtaɪ(ə)rəsi/ U.S.† 2. U.S. regional (New England). A sufficient quantity of money on which to retire. Obsolete.
1. = retirement n. (in various senses); esp. seclusion, privacy. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > retirement or seclusion > [noun]
privity?c1225
reclusionc1430
abstractionc1450
recess?1532
privacy1534
solitariousness1545
retirea1554
secess1570
privatenessa1586
retirednessa1586
retirement1603
secrecy1607
closeness1612
shadow1612
privatea1616
recluseness1648
abstractednessa1653
recluse1665
abscondence1694
seclusion1785
seclusiveness1822
retiracy1824
secludedness1835
retraite1843
1824 Atlantic Mag. May 60 I packed up my alls, and marched off at short oder, without beat of drum, or asking what was to pay; and went ‘into retiracy among the Aborindiginous’, as a member of the Ohio legislature expressed himself.
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xi. 64 The important matter of supper being in some sort concluded, preparations were made for ‘retiracy’.
1873 L. Wallace Fair God iii. i He left the house, and once more sought the retiracy of the gardens.
1875 Georgia Weekly Tel. 13 July Whether the inevitable shock that followed Dr. Lipscomb's retiracy has been prolonged or aggravated by his successor's blunders.
1914 Independent (U.S.) 17 Aug. 227/1 Such was the life, in retiracy and in the blaze of public observation, of Mrs. Ellen Axson Wilson.
1987 G. Jennings Grand Promenade (1998) 288 Timoféi and I do not mind occasional retiracy, since we have each other for companionship.
ΚΠ
1848 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (at cited word) It is said, in New England, of a person who has retired from business with a fortune, that he has a retiracy; i.e. a sufficient fortune to retire with.
1860 in M. Schele De Vere Americanisms (1871) 628 When Mr. Watson found he had a sufficient retiracy, he gave up his lucrative business.
1882 E. Edwards Words, Facts, & Phrases 473 In America they say of a man who has made his fortune that ‘he has secured a retiracy’—i.e. sufficient to retire upon.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > retirement or seclusion > secluded place or place of seclusion > [adjective]
secrec1374
blindc1386
privatea1513
secret?a1513
shadowy1555
close1571
retired1593
retrait1603
sequestrate1632
recessful1646
recluse1650
reserved1653
secessive1653
coy1670
sequestrated1726
slya1764
secluded1798
shy1841
retiracied1856
undisprivacied1870
madding1874
1856 Knickerbocker Mar. 267 The Newcome who lands in one of these towns..is compelled to admit that there are no places in the world similarly retiracied which are less provincial or more agreeable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1824